Warm Strangers
by Kitsune Blade
Summary: Gift fic for yamiishot. ClairexBirkin.


"Do you think we'll meet again?"

"I'm sure we will."

* * *

How ironically cruel those words seemed a year later. But the thing in front of her wasn't William Birkin; Claire refused to believe that the monstrosity before her was the man she had known. She didn't want to believe anything she had learned that day. This grotesque discovery just topped off everything else she had come to know. She hated all of it, she hated how life could be distorted into something so horrible.

Well, it wasn't all bad but even the good hurt her deeply. Sherry, the sweet little girl who she'd been trying to protect all this time. The little girl that happened to be the scientist's daughter. As soon as she had met the endearing child she couldn't help but want to help the girl in any way she could. However, as soon as she found out that Sherry was William's daughter, every time she looked at the child it caused her to feel a pain that she couldn't really describe, even to herself.

But there was a feeling in that muddle of emotions that she could pick out easily. A feeling of stupidity. She felt so absolutely brainless for believing for even a second that the man wasn't married or had any kids. What hurt even more was the fact she was realizing that at some point hope was born in her that something might have happened between her and William. She wasn't exactly certain what that something was but it was something that was better than what reality had presented.

Out of all the people in Raccoon City that she could have asked for directions, why did it have to be him? Two years ago… _Why did it have to be him? _

* * *

_Ugh… How did I end up all the way over here? I don't even know where I am…_ the seventeen year old had been talking a stroll through Raccoon City and had only just realized that she was hopelessly lost. Claire and her brother Chris had only just moved to the Midwestern town since Chris had gotten a job in the S.T.A.R.S. division of the RPD. In the week or two of living there, it was the first time Claire had gotten the chance to wander about the city alone. With the rampant violence that infested Raccoon (the very reason for the creation of S.T.A.R.S.), Claire hadn't gotten the chance to take a look around the city, and she found it a waste of her summer to be cooped up in that small apartment. As a teenager, Claire needed excitement in her life and that wasn't going to happen in the tiny complex.

But now she had absolutely no idea where she was in the city and she was even more clueless as to how to find her way home. She could feel that 'Oh no! Where am I?' panic settling quickly in her body. She looked around once more, praying that she would suddenly gain the knowledge of how to amend her problem but no such thing happened. With a quiet defeated sigh, she ran to the nearest person to ask for directions. She tapped the man on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, sir… could you…" But her voice died on her lips as the man turned to face her.

"Hmm…?" He responded, a thoughtful look replacing the look that denoted that it was as if he had forgotten the world around him existed. The girl didn't say anything more and her gaze became fixated before she blushed and retracted the hand that was still resting on his shoulder. Still, she couldn't seem to make herself say another word. Oddly enough, in some part of her mind, Claire didn't think she was behaving all that strangely albeit a little foolishly. But she did notice the difference in her demeanor. However, the man noticed the peculiar countenance. Noticed when her sweet voice died away and gave way to silence; her pretty eyes had become suddenly timid yet blatantly stared; a lovely blush, the color of pink rose petals, painting her smooth skin... "Could I… what?"

"Um…" She forced her voice to be audible as she suddenly lowered her eyes shyly. "I'm lost. Where am I?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Claire felt like she suddenly swam in her own idiocy. _That wasn't what you wanted to ask, you idiot. You know where you are, you want to know how to get home! _She mentally reprimanded herself, feeling the curiously pleasant feeling of 'butterflies' in her stomach as her face burned furiously. She shook her head lightly as if trying to clear her thoughts before persuading her voice to work again, "Um… that is… I mean… could you direct me to my house?" She then rattled off the address where she lived.

He listened to the address carefully and then proceeded to direct her towards the desired location. Normally, he would have ignored the girl entirely but he had left his work for a reason. And that reason was to simply get away from the lab. William Birkin and his wife were complete workaholics, but there was a breaking point. That breaking point was when him and Annette couldn't focus on work due to constantly snapping at each other. At some time, they had both realized what the problem was and both agreed that they needed to get away from work on the G-Virus, if only for a little bit. And so that was why William was taking his solo stroll through Raccoon City… or he had been until he ran into the young lady.

_What…? I didn't get half of that! _"Um… is there any kind of short-cut or anything?" Claire asked hopefully. But William just shook his head and informed her that the route he had just told her was the shortest one. That didn't help the young Redfield at all._ How am I supposed to get home? Wait, maybe…_ "Uh… could I ask you for a favor?" She knew it was probably a little rude to ask a stranger what she was about to but she didn't know any other way to get home. Plus, for some inexplicable reason, she wanted to spend some time with the stranger… well, she knew the reason but she felt stupid for acting on it.

"A favor?" He questioned a little confused. "What kind of favor?"

"Well… could you… possibly… maybe… I mean, I know this is rude to ask but… could you take me to my address?" Claire asked with an obvious nervousness capturing her voice.

"What?" He responded incredulously. It was an odd request considering the state of the city. Simply asking a stranger a question was risky but to ask them to lead you to your house was something that just wasn't done. William figured it would look questionable, at best, were he to meander through Raccoon with the young girl. Not to mention, they had only just met, which would look even worse considering the raise of prostitution in the city.

"I know I'm probably imposing too much but I'd really appreciate it." She replied, flashing him a sweet smile. Claire didn't think that conversing and seeking assistance from a stranger was all that strange. However, Claire and Chris had previously lived in a small town where talking to anybody didn't seem to be that big of a threat. "I would've called my brother to help me but… if I did that I'd never get to go out by myself again. He worries about me way too much." William couldn't help but think that her brother was right in worrying so if his sister found it perfectly reasonable to let a stranger follow her home in a crime-ridden town. "So… please?" She begged.

William shook his head, feeling reluctant to help the girl. "I think that you should call your brother, miss. I-"

"Please?" She interrupted immediately, feeling selfish but at the same time not wanting her request to be denied. "I… I really don't know what else to say… But please, I'd be so grateful if you could help me out." Claire was becoming steadily aware of the fact that her argument and reason for her plea were very weak. She didn't care though, she just had an urge to talk to the man. It was that strange sense that most people have when they meet someone new and have some intuitive tug that says they want to befriend that person. It was a feeling that Claire just couldn't shake.

William stayed silent for a second, not quite sure why the girl was being so insistent. But after a moment or so, he finally gave into her pleading. With a sort of friendly and casual resignment, he said, "Fine. I'll help you find your way home."

Claire smiled brightly and cheered, "Really? Thanks so much! Oh, by the way, my name's Claire Redfield." She introduced herself. "What's yours?"

"William Birkin."

* * *

What was happening…? Where was he…? Was there even a 'he' anymore…? Everything was nothing but a flow of jumbled images and immense pain. William couldn't really define anything that was going on… no… no… he wasn't William Birkin, not now… now he was just… a monster. A monster that couldn't understand anything that was happening except for the desire to kill the lone figure before him. It was a life form that seemed familiar… at least he thought it looked familiar, he couldn't really be sure. If he was acquainted with the person, then why was this person trying to kill him? … They were trying to kill him… right?

She looked tired and beaten and scared. Even with his barely-there-consciousness he could tell she had every reason to be. He couldn't make out exactly what his body was but it was nothing human, that much was certain. But this… girl? Yes, this girl… he knew her… he thought so anyway. But how? How did he know this girl? Was she… was she crying…? He couldn't quite tell that either. Her name… her name… her… name…. what was her name? A haphazard cluster of letters floated through what lucid thoughts he still possessed. Cl… C… ire… re… lai… No it wasn't making any sense at all. But he struggled as much as was possible to gather the letters into something he knew. Cla… eri…? No, that wasn't it. Was it… Cl… ai… e… Clai… re… Claire.

Claire. That was her name. He was sure (or at least as sure as he could be in that state) that he had known her at some point. But he still didn't know how. Hot streets? Yes, that seemed about right. Raccoon… An animal? No, that didn't make sense. Questions? He seemed to recall being asked something. Beautiful… That was something he remembered… especially with a reminder in front of him despite his blurry vision. But… that wasn't all. He somehow knew her from another memory that had been reduced to nothing more than a few hazy remembrances. There had been another time he had met this young woman… another time he had forgotten the dark world of Umbrella… another time when…

* * *

William tried to stifle a quiet yawn but failed. He was sleeping less and less as completion of the G-Virus was looming over him tauntingly. At that moment, he was in a secluded corner, pouring over a book he had found in the Raccoon City library. He figured doing some extra research might help speed up finishing the precious virus but it proved to be rather fruitless since he already knew all the facts he had read so far in the book. But he still stayed because with each word he read, he was further persuaded that he should just fall asleep at the table. Fatigue was easy to ignore when he was working but when he really had nothing else to distract him, sleep was far too impossible to neglect. Or at least it was hard to ignore until he felt someone tap him on the shoulder and he looked up to see…

"It is you! I thought so!" The teen giggled happily as she sat down in a seat next to him. "I haven't seen you in a while."

It was a teen girl he hadn't seen quite some time. Claire Redfield. The last time he had met her… well, things had gotten a little awkward at the end of their first meeting. The whole trip to the apartment building she lived in she had been clumsily yet obviously flirting but William had gotten the feeling that Claire had been completely oblivious to the fact that she was doing so. Still, he didn't exactly dislike the affectionate attention so he didn't say anything. Plus he didn't want to embarrass the poor girl.

But she seemed to do that on her own. Once they had arrived at the building, she had thanked him and William thought that would be the end of it. But then Claire suddenly wrapped her arms around him in an embrace. A surprise, most definitely but one that William could have shrugged off later after returning the hug awkwardly. However, what she did after that was something that left a bit of an impression or at least it would leave an impression on a man who was married and had a child, not to mention he was quite a few years older than her. She had quickly pressed her lips to his cheek. Abruptly after that, Claire blushed intensely, mumbled a goodbye, and ran inside the building. It seemed that she had not entirely meant to do what she had but had merely done it out of impulse.

So he was a bit surprised to see her acting so normally considering the circumstances they had parted under. "Yes, it has. It's been about a year, hasn't it?"

"Uh-huh." She replied with a nod of her head. She looked at the book he was currently reading and at the titles of the other books scattered about him. "What are you reading?"

"Nothing really." He replied off-handedly, closing the cover of the book. "Just something for work."

"Wow, you're so smart." She praised, her eyes still looking over the various books. Claire was already aware of William's intelligence but to that day it had never ceased to amaze her just how brilliant he was. "Are you a doctor or something?" She noticed some of the words in the titles of the books from her biology class.

"Yes." He answered simply, not exactly prone to drawn-out conversation at that moment. Claire replied with something but he wasn't entirely paying attention. All he wanted was to return home and sleep. _Eating would probably be a good idea too…_

A silence fell over both of them for a little bit and William decided to open another book, starting to scan the pages. Claire too opened the books she had selected for a school project but kept looking at William out of the corner of her eye (which he noticed). "Are you okay?" She spoke suddenly in a concerned tone.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why?"

"You look really exhausted." She pointed out bluntly. She looked down at the books around him again. "I think you might be working too hard."

William couldn't help but laugh. If the girl knew what he was working on, she would then know that he could never work hard enough… not until it was complete. But he decided to change the subject and looked down at her book. "What are you working on?"

"English homework. We have to research one poem and go through it in depth. Symbolism and all that stuff." She replied with a shrug. She looked down at one book she had retrieved titled The Book of Love. "Hey, could you pick one for me?" She asked with a convincing smile, handing him the book.

While not exactly fond of English as a subject (he found it a little useless to go through text and decipher that which you already had a basic sense of what it meant in the first place) he decided to oblige her request. He flipped open to a random spot on the book and looked at the first poem he saw. "How about this one? It's called Love's Philosophy and it's by Percy Bysshe Shelley."

"What does the poem say?" She questioned innocently, looking at him instead of the book.

He gave her a quick glance, knowing perfectly well she could read it from where she was sitting. Still he decided he may as well read it anyway. "The fountains mingle with the river/ And the rivers with the ocean/ The winds of heaven mix for ever/ With sweet emotion;/ Nothing in the world is single/ All things by a law divine/ In one another's being mingle-/ Why not I with thine?" William vaguely noticed that Claire was leaning closer to him, looking at the book, as he continued reading the romantic words on the page. "See the mountains kiss high heaven/ And the waves clasp one another;/ No sister-flower would be forgiven/ If it disdain'd its brother;/ And the sunlight clasps the earth/ And the moonbeams kiss the sea-/ What are all these kissing worth/" As he finished the last verse, he looked down at Claire, noticing just how close she had become, "If thou kiss not me?"

The two stared at each other for a moment quietly, feeling the suffocating tension. What happened next, William wanted to blame on being extremely tired, on being without clear thoughts, on being too close to Claire. He pressed his lips against Claire's, feeling the girl melt against him, quite clearly not minding in the least. However, as soon as he returned to his senses, William broke away quickly and gathered the books he had taken from the shelves before turning to leave.

Claire questioned quietly, making him stop briefly in his steps, "Do you think we'll meet again?"

William didn't say anything for a moment, thinking it over briefly, and answered, "I'm sure we will."

* * *

Yes, fate had twisted those words into a horrible cruelty towards them both.

* * *

Dedicated to yamiishot for her awesomeness!

In other words, this one-shot is for yamiishot since she drew a dino for me on DA. Forgive me if either Claire or Birkin are not in character, I'm not used to writing for either of them. But much thanks to MA-121 for help with William's characterization, praise her for she is God of Birkin! Also I'm sorry if this one-shot isn't that good (and took so long) but I tried my hardest after Microsoft Works killed me on the inside. D:

This is based on LeonA/ClaireB scenario.

The title of this one-shot is taken from the title of one of Vienna Teng's albums.

Resident Evil © Capcom  
Love's Philosophy © Percy Bysshe Shelley


End file.
